Story Highlights

Denis McGlynn got up in front of the drivers Sunday morning and practically begged them to reach out to younger fans, going so far as to say that drivers should allow those fans to take selfies with them.

McGlynn, president and CEO of Dover Motorsports, Inc., said the hope is that those pictures with a driver at the track will make it out onto social media, whether it's through Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat or whatever. And that, in turn, will attract a new demographic of fan to NASCAR.

That could easily be NASCAR's new marketing slogan: "Selfies for Everybody!"

But there's a reason behind McGlynn's plea, which was an initiative started by NASCAR this season to address the dwindling attendance at the track and ratings on TV. That was as clear as the bright sun on a picturesque day reflecting off the empty rows of silver grandstand Sunday for the FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway.

McGlynn described the empty sections of seat to the drivers as "holes in the grandstand."

That coincided later with a hole in the concrete. That led to a 22-minute red-flag delay midway through the race while crews applied a filler.

If only they could patch the potholes that quickly on I-95.

Despite the mishap, there was plenty on Sunday that would have appealed to NASCAR's desired young audience, beginning with Jimmie Johnson's ninth victory at Dover, extending his own record.

"Our whole world is changing, and we've got to change with it," McGlynn said. "We traditionally have an aging demographic audience in NASCAR. The average fan is 47 years old, a male. They're either aging out, saying, 'My partying days are over. I've got my big-screen TV and my Surround Sound at home, and I'm just going to do that.'

"Or they can't afford to come. So we have to create a whole new audience."

McGlynn said 16 percent of the ticket holders Sunday were first-time fans, and 6 percent were kids 14 and under. McGlynn said four years ago, just 1½ percent of the ticket holders were kids 14 and under.

NASCAR doesn't announce attendance at racetracks. But the capacity at Dover is 113,000, and the stands seemed about half filled.

Still, those fans who came had to like the requisite crashes, one of which ended Kyle Busch's chance to sweep all three races, the so-called weekend Triple Crown, something only Busch has done in NASCAR history.

Busch was leading for the first 81 laps and was third when he crashed on lap 126. He stormed off the track and into his infield trailer, calling it a day.

A little later, Dover probably had its dream scenario when the top four consisted of Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Johnson beat all of them.

That young demographic could do worse than get behind a star like Johnson. He won for the 68th time in his illustrious career and led for 272 laps.

Kenseth, who was running second, had a chance at Johnson after a caution on lap 364. But he struggled on the restart, spinning his tires before getting bumped by Clint Bowyer. He stayed in the race and finished third.

"I'm just dumb," Kenseth said. "I needed to let off the gas and let the rear tires quit screaming so I could get rolling."

The field had one last chance at Johnson following a caution flag on lap 392 that Johnson said became "an opportunity for the guy who led all day to make a mistake."

There was little chance of that happening. Johnson has owned Dover during his career, and everybody knew it.

"It just fits my style," Johnson said.

After he won, Johnson did the customary Figure 8 at the start-finish line, then he drove into victory lane, where he was doused with beer (perhaps they should have chosen soda to set a good example for the younger crowd).

As he left, fans standing nearby snapped pictures, and there might have even been a selfie or two involved.

"What effect can it have if a kid has a picture with [a driver], and he tweets it out, puts it on Facebook, and hundreds of other kids see it?" McGlynn said. "Kids talking to kids is way more effective from a marketing standpoint than me talking to kids.